You just discover our San Diego Dog Training Blog's December 2007 archives..please don't burn it down lol..just kidding..just enjoy the archive area and look for your favourite stuff
The New Year is here! Time for start thinking about all of those things you want to renew… all those plans you want to make… and how much better things can be in the coming year. Sometimes its time to make a change.. and the New Year is a typical time to do that.
Professional Dog Training is a career you can love! We have so many choices we can make and the great thing is choosing a dream career and making money training dogs is available to those who want to step out of a job they aren’t happy in, or really aren’t making that much money at.
Dog training is a profession that is growing and the industry is one in which you can make a great living. If you are interested in making a change and doing something that you can love for a living… we’d love to talk to you.
Robin MacFarlane is the owner of That’s My Dog, a Professional Dog Training Academy. You can find her on this website and find out all the upcoming courses available for 2008.
Jt Clough owner of K9 Coach in San Diego coaches students to successful business strategies.
Since I had yet to post final pictures of Jiggs, who had boot camp in October… well here they are…
I spent a gorgeous afternoon in San Diego last week with Jiggs, his person Janet and pack mate Lucky. Lucky (six year old, male, yellow lab) had his first lesson leash walking with friend Ruth, Jiggs & Janet. Ruth jumped right in with Lucky and did a great job keeping Lucky on track and leash walking like a pro!
Jiggs looks amazing and behaves wonderfully. Janet & Ruth have been walking & training Jiggs daily since boot camp. Now they are ready to add Lucky to the daily routine. They have canyon trails & a great park just up the street and have been making full use of the neighborhood to continue socializing and exercising Jiggs.
I could see a difference right away with Jiggs & Janet, she is in control and they both have a new confidence and look great from all the exercise and controlled diet. Good job Janet & Ruth your hard work has paid off… it clearly shows in the well-mannered Jiggs. I can’t wait to see what improvement you’ll have with Lucky’s manners, when I visit in the New Year!
Well, here it is… Hunter’s last night at camp. There are dogs that I train that I’m sad to see go… Hunter is one of those dogs. She’s such a sweet heart. Loves to cuddle up and hang out, yet she has her “working dog” side, and I love that in a dog.
Those instincts are the ones that are sometimes more difficult to train for though. If you have a dog with those traits you know what I mean. They are playful, they like to push the envelope. They can run…. fast, they like to steal things and run, and sometimes they like to pretend they never heard the word “come” before in their lives! The can jump up on a 5 foot ledge, they can turn on a dime and smack right into you, and they will dig a hole in the couch to get to the bone they buried there for later.
Hunter is all of that, yet at the same time she is a dog that wants a leader and does well with direction. That’s what she has learned in the last couple of weeks here. Direction. She’s getting so much better at it. She’s even better at it with the right amount of exercise. In her case she really needs two outings a day, and she needs to GO on those outings. The great thing about her training is that she has learned how to walk on a leash very nicely. She’s learned to come when called, and she’s learned to drop things that she picks up because they look like just as good of a toy as anything she’s ever scene before… even if it is one of your croc’s!
She’s a good dog. She’s got personality and she has been really fun to work with. I will miss her. And the K9 Coach Dog Pack of will miss her too. We all had a lot of fun.
Yet, here’s another great thing about dogs… she will be really glad to be back home with her moms, and since they’ll be able to give her direction now, all will be well for everyone… even her sister in the family the 12 year old GSP, Woodstock!
Tiki is doing a fabulous job at K9 Coach Dog Boot Camp. She is walking on leash nicely with Spencer, Betty (K9 Coach Dogs), and Sonic (K9 Coach Camper) and also has good off leash recall.
She is such a happy-go-lucky girl and every time I hear her high stepping… that prancing pat, pat, pat of her paws, it makes me smile. She still needs reminders, but she is learning her manners and also is focusing on quieting down in those “scary” situations… like new objects and people.
When Tiki is on leash walking with just me, she is so well behaved! She stays by my side and needs very little reminder to stay on track through all kinds of distraction…. barking dogs, passing cars, and even horses walking by.
Tiki has learned how to “place” and chew on her bone nicely with other dogs around the house. She understands now that some dogs do not want to play non-stop and this is OK! Such a good girl, she has learned to come sit in front of me and wait when she wants to “get busy” outside. She’ll do the same for a little extra attention.
Sonic continues to come along in his dog training camp and more importantly is finding purpose.
Dogs, like people, don’t succeed without a purpose. We’ve gotten so into letting our dogs do whatever they want, or you may be one of the not so lucky ones who got a dog that tried to take over and do whatever they wanted and purpose has somehow disappeared in many dogs lives.
Sonic has owners who recognize that he is a working breed dog and needs a purpose. If you’ve ever tried to find your own purpose in life, sometimes you get the definition wrong at first. Those who succeed and find that happy medium of success, content, and work ethic in their lives continue to look for ways for fulfillment.
Sonic is one of those dogs who does so very well with exercise. With exercise he follows direction extremely well. He’s a dog with a lot of energy. This week he’s been going for leash walks, doing a treadmill workout everyday, and going out and playing with dogs. He can chill out and stay on a certain spot when you tell him to and his recall is getting to be a consistent thing.
Smooth Fox Terriers can be very pushy and sometimes don’t play that well with others, not in an aggressive way… just in a way that they turn it on a little too much. Unfortunately, that means usually someone gets upset about “the level of play” your dog has going on. What’s great about Sonic finding his purpose is now he can be supervised in play and when it gets a little much… just a little reminder, “hey EZ Sonic” and he backs off.
His freedom is increasing because of his new found ability to follow direction. His direction has been found through the proper amount of exercise and following through with teaching him a word and an action that goes with the word… every single time.
Dog training is such a revelation of your own life…. finding purpose, getting the right amount of exercise, following through with your commitments, and gaining the freedom of playing with great joy because of the satisfaction of purpose.
Sonic is doing awesome. He’s just about ready to go home… and the joy and fulfillment of a well trained dog for his family is one of the greatest holiday gifts we at K9 Coach can give.
